Children's Home run by The Beeches UK limited in Peterborough

Inspection report for children’s home: 2827491 1 Registered provider: The Beeches UK limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately run and provides care for up to two children who experience social and emotional difficulties and/or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager left in September 2025. A new manager has applied to register with Ofsted.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2827491 2

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improvement to be good

There was one child living at the home at the time of this inspection. The child was spoken to. The child is making some progress; however, their experiences are not always positive and the judgements regarding how well they are helped and protected, and the leadership and management of the home, have limited the overall judgement.

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improvement to be good

The child’s education plans are not clear. The child is enrolled with an online tutoring service which this has not yet started. Managers have not challenged the placing authority to progress education in a timely manner. Staff support the child to undertake some education work. However, these activities are limited, and staff do not use creative ideas to support the child to learn and develop a positive daily routine.

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improvement to be good

The child’s daily routine is limited to being at the home playing videogames. There is very little evidence of staff offering activities to the child. This means the child’s engagement and encouragement with meaningful activities is minimal. Some incentives are being used to try and encourage the child to participate. However, these are not making effective changes, and no alternative incentives have been considered.

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improvement to be good

When children receive consequences, the manager does not review whether the consequence was effective. Therefore, staff could be repeating ineffective actions. Some of the consequences are not recorded as a consequence on the child’s file. One consequence is recorded and then not implemented. This indicates that there is no clear record of consequences.

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improvement to be good

The child’s personal identity is not fully explored with them. The child is asked about their interests and plans about how to support them have been developed. However, the child has not been spoken to about whether they have any religious or cultural needs that they would like support with.

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improvement to be good

Children’s known risks are not always clear in risk assessments. The manager and staff are aware of the child’s risk of self-harm, but there is no risk assessment regarding this. This means that strategies for staff to follow are unclear. The child’s behaviour management plan is also not completed in full. This means there may be inconsistent practice used by staff due to children’s plans not being detailed and advising what strategies work well for the child.

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improvement to be good

Restraints do not occur frequently and are proportionate when they are used. Debriefs with the child take place. However, following one restraint there was a delay in the Inspection report for children’s home: 2827491 3 manager discussing the incident with staff.. This means that learning from the restraint may not have been identified in a timely manner.

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improvement to be good

Staff use clear de-escalation techniques in line with the home’s model of care. During incidents, there is a clear focus on supporting children before the incident escalates. When concerns about a staff member have been raised by a child following incidents, no conversation to support them to rebuild the relationship takes place. Any patterns of staff involvement are not identified in the management oversight of incidents.

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improvement to be good

Missing-from-home incidents do not occur frequently. When a child leaves the home without permission, staff understand the protocol to follow the child. However, staff do not ensure that the local authority is challenged when return home interviews do not take place.

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improvement to be good

Staff carry out room searches when they have concerns that there are items that could harm the child or other people. The searches are recorded and explain the reasoning for the search. However, when it is not appropriate or possible to tell children about the search before this happens, there is no evidence to show they are informed following the search. This could affect children’s feeling that their bedroom is a safe, private space for them.

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improvement to be good

A concern about potential fire risk was not addressed immediately. Staff raised concerns about the risk of the child cooking in the night without the staff being aware. The child then made a specific threat regarding a fire. The managers did not raise this concern with senior leaders and did not take any actions. During the inspection, senior leaders took steps to ensure safeguards are in place to reduce the risks associated with this. Fortunately, no fire occurred. However, the delay meant the child, staff and house were at increased risk due to actions not being taken in a timely manner.

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improvement to be good

Safer recruitment is followed for new members of staff. There is an induction process for new staff, which helps them to learn their roles. Temporary staff are used occasionally to ensure the correct staffing levels are always in place.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager is applying to register with Ofsted. The previous manager remains working for the provider and is applying to be the responsible individual. The manager was not present during the inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There is some management oversight following all incidents and restraints. However, this is limited and does not involve a clear review of actions taken or patterns identified, or identify any learning. This means that opportunities to develop practice may be missed. The management oversight for one incident involving a restraint was completed by a manager involved in the incident. This means there has not been an impartial view about whether the restraint was proportionate or managed appropriately. Inspection report for children’s home: 2827491 4 Supervision sessions do not take place in line with the provider’s policy. New members of staff should have increased supervision to support their development, but they are not always receiving regular supervision. This means that staff are not receiving the support required and this could impact on their confidence and skills. It also means that their managers may not be aware of staff members’ areas of development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Recording and reporting give cause for concern. Due to poor staff recording of incidents and interventions, it is not possible to fully ascertain what support is in place for the child. For one incident, when the child had a bruise following a restraint, correct actions were taken to report this. However, there is no recording about the bruise on the child’s record. Senior managers are aware of this concern and have plans to address it. However, this has not yet been addressed. This means that there are no clear records available for the child to fully understand their journey while living at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff complete relevant training. The manager is out of timescale for completion of several training courses. This could mean they do not have the skills required to ensure the staff are responding to situations in the best way.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The quality of care review does not identify any actions. This limits the effectiveness of identifying and driving improvements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The child’s social worker and staff are positive about the support the child receives. Staff said that they feel supported by managers. Inspection report for children’s home: 2827491 5

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

ensure there is clear, impartial oversight following incidents which explores any areas of concern and identifies any learning;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the manager has completed relevant training. 28 November 2025

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— 21 November 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2827491 6 that staff—

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; and

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

ensure that concerns about safety are recorded and addressed immediately and that children’s plans detail the support to ensure consistency;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that that children are spoken to following incidents to help rebuild relationships with staff.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child; and

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Requirement Due date

are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that records capture enough detail and that full information regarding incidents and consequences is available on children’s records. 5 December 2025

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each 5 December 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2827491 7 child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the local authority should be challenged if suitable education provision is not identified and return home interviews are not completed or offered.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, supervision sessions should take place at a frequency in line with policy. 5 December 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(c) (5)) 30 January 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children’s rooms are only searched if the child has been informed or asked for their permission, unless there are reasonable grounds for believing that there is a risk to the child’s or another person’s safety or well-being. If they are not informed beforehand for safety reasons, children should be informed following the search, so they are aware. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.20)  The registered person should ensure that children are supported to maintain and develop their cultural identity. Children should be regularly asked about their religious and cultural identity and their plans should detail their cultural identity and how staff Inspection report for children’s home: 2827491 8 can support this. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.22)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they are working with the placing authority so that the child is supported and enabled to resume full-time education as soon as possible. If no education place is identified by the placing authority, the registered person should ensure that staff are supporting children to learn and develop positive daily routines to prepare them for when formal education is identified. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.15)  The registered person should ensure that consequences used are evaluated to ensure they are effective. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)  The registered person should ensure that records of restraint enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control, discipline and restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly where any issues or trends of concern

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Recommendations

emerge. In particular, debriefs with staff members should be completed in a timely manner. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, using the social care common inspection framework. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. Inspection report for children’s home: 2827491 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: The Beeches UK limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: SBCH House, 212 Ballards Lane, London N3 2LX

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Michelle Robinson

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Inspector

Leanne Lyon, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2827491 10 achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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